December - Domesticity
by HeKillsWithHisSmile
Summary: On Christmas morning with Martha, Mickey, Donna and Jack, the Doctor has a question he wants to ask and Rose has some new to tell him *PtXII of 'A Calendar of Stories'*


_**A/N: YES! I have completed my little collection. I'm a day late with this one but, although I'm slightly annoyed at myself for not getting this up yesterday, I am so pleased to have finally finished this.**_

 _ **Thank you to everyone who has followed this collection from the beginning, or has only read the odd one or two, it means a lot.**_

 _ **I'm not planning on doing something so long-term this year, but I have an idea for some smaller projects as well as working on Back to Our Reality again. However, I have so much work already this month and I really need to focus on that. Hopefully after my exam on the 24th, I'll be able to get something new up. I've had the 13th chapter of BtOR half written for months now and it's about time I finished it.**_

 _ **Anyway, thank you for reading once again and a Happy New Year to you all. Please enjoy and I hope 2018 is a good year for you all!**_

 _ **Emma :)**_

* * *

It wasn't before this body that he seriously began to consider seeing himself in this form of situation. But then came the Christmas invasion, his regeneration, and a family dinner to celebrate both Christmas and defeating the alien threat. Despite being unsure of who he was, he knew that that had been the best Christmas he had ever been a part of. With his life, it wasn't every day that these things – the most mundane things of all – happened to him.

But then came the Battle of Canary Wharf and he couldn't see himself being able to do anything like that again with anyone else. He'd had offers, but he'd turned them down. Somehow, it didn't feel right sitting at someone else's table with people he barely knew, eating Christmas dinner. Christmas was a time for family and with Gallifrey long gone and the Battle of Canary Wharf still fresh in his mind, he didn't think he would feel a sense of family with anyone again for a long time.

But then the impossible happened. His family came back. Well, two of them anyone. Jackie had decided to stay in the other universe with the little family she had made for herself over there. Despite what people may have thought, he did like Jackie and he did miss her enormously. However, Rose was back and for years that was all the Doctor had ever wanted. He'd just wanted her back.

He had a family once again, and Rose and Mickey, along with other returning friends in Jack and Sarah-Jane as well as new ones such as Martha and Donna, almost made him forget that he had ever been alone. Although his past was always there ready to haunt him, he knew he didn't have to suffer in silence any longer.

Christmas time was once again a time for family.

…

"Doctor, if you don't hurry up, we're going to be late!" Rose called as she stood by the TARDIS doors, a bag of presents in her hands, waiting for the Doctor to turn up. It was Christmas Eve and they had been invited to Martha and Mickey's for Christmas along with Donna and Jack. They hadn't seen much of each other since Martha and Mickey's wedding and, with Donna's boyfriend, Lee, away on business over the Christmas period, it had been a good idea for them all to meet up and spend the festive period together.

"It's a bleeding time machine! I don't know why you always seem to forget that," the Doctor reminded her as he came into the console room.

"Yes, but someone decided to land her first _before_ going off to sort out his hair," Rose gave him a look which she knew the Doctor couldn't come back to. She knew his weaknesses too well now.

"Oh, hush you," he said. "Have you got everything?" He looked at the large bag she was holding with one eyebrow raised.

"Yes," she told him. "This is all the presents we picked up for everyone during our travels."

"And the one you're wearing?" The Doctor asked, noticing for the first time, that there was also a rucksack on her back.

"This is the bag that contains all my overnight stuff," she explained. "Because, unlike someone I know, I don't have the luxury of 'bigger-on-the-inside pockets'. In fact," Rose looked down at the coat she was wearing. "I don't have the luxury of pockets at all."

"Ah, the impracticality of twenty-first century women's clothing. I'll never understand it," the Doctor said bending down slightly and taking the present bag from her hand.

"That makes two of us then."

"Remind me – if I ever become a woman – not to buy any clothing from your time," the Doctor told her.

It took a moment for Rose to realise what the Doctor had said. "Wait, hold on, what?"

The Doctor, however, was already out of the door.

…

"I see you got the right day, then," Donna said with a smile as the Doctor and Rose walked into through the front door.

Martha laughed as she shut the front door behind them and watched as the Doctor tried to think of something to say back.

"I'm not that bad a driver!" the Doctor protested to a chorus of giggles from those surrounding him.

"Twelve months, that's all I'm saying," Rose reminded him with a smile.

"Rose, come on, it's been years!" The Doctor moaned. "I said I was sorry."

"I know," she laughed. "It's just fun to remind you of it every once in a while."

The Doctor huffed and put the bag down on the floor near the door. "Anyone ever told you that you can be really mean sometimes?"

Rose just smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "You love me really."

The Doctor just grumbled.

After preceding to give both Martha and Donna a proper greeting, the four of them made their way into the lounge before Martha went off to put the kettle on.

"Where are Mickey and Jack?" The Doctor asked as he stood by the Christmas tree in the room, looking curiously at the decorations that donned it. He recognised some of them as being trinkets Martha had picked up from alien markets during the time she had travelled with him and he wondered, briefly, what any other visitors they had made of them. That was if they noticed them at all; the tree was full of decorations and lights. Unless up close, it was almost impossible to tell what each individual thing was.

"I sent them to go and grab a few last-minute things from Tesco," Martha explained as she handed one of the mugs she held to Rose, sitting on the sofa next to Donna and the other to the Doctor, who had since turned away from the tree.

"So, I guess we won't be seeing either of them this side of Christmas, then," the Doctor joked dryly. He was fully aware of the supermarket situation over the Christmas period and didn't envy either of them at all.

"We did that, last year," Rose said. "Last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve. I mentioned that we needed some stuff and this one," she pointed at the Doctor who had gone back to looking at the tree again. "landed us on Christmas Eve of all days! We didn't realise until we were inside."

"And you say you aren't a bad driver," Donna said, looking over at the Doctor. He turned around again and looked at them with a look of pure innocence; the way a child looks when it's done something wrong, but denies it with.

"I'm not!"

"If you say so," Donna replied, smiling.

"You should have seen him," Rose said with a laugh. "You would have thought that we were under attack from a bunch of homicidal aliens. But no, we were just trying to get around a supermarket on Christmas Eve."

"Where are Jack and Mickey when you need them?" the Doctor mumbled to himself, feeling outnumbered.

"I only wish I could have rung up mum and told her about it," Rose said, still smiling, but her smile had become somewhat sadder. "She'd've laughed about it."

Martha and Donna looked from Rose to the Doctor. They both knew what Rose had given up in order to be with the Doctor and they knew that the Doctor would always feel slightly guilty for that, despite his joy at having her back in his life again. It had been a few years ago now, but they both knew that Rose still missed her mother – she probably always would. It was a subject that neither of them knew how to breach, really, even now. So they both stayed quiet and let Rose's statement become a passing remark.

"I only wish you'd told me about this earlier," Donna said. "You know I'm always looking for material to tease your spaceman with."

"Hey!" the Doctor protested, but he was met only with laughs.

…

When Jack and Mickey had returned a little later, looking a little worse for wear and complaining that neither of them are going anywhere near a supermarket from the twenty-second to the twenty-seventh of December ever again, the six of them began to make a start on dinner.

They had decided to have their meal on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day this year and, by the evening, they were all sat around the table in the large dining area, pulling Christmas crackers and telling bad jokes at one another.

The Doctor looked around at the table and smiled. He loved moments like this. He hadn't realised until the first time he had ever had a Christmas meal, sat around a family table, after recovering from another hellish regeneration, but sometimes the quieter moments in his life were the ones that were all the more memorable.

His eyes met Rose's from where he sat opposite her and he smiled. It was a smile full of joy and full of love. She smiled back at him, her smile mirroring his own. Yes, he thought to himself, these were definitely the best moments.

…

He was up fairly late the next morning – later than usual. He knew because he had woken up alone. Rose was no longer beside him in the guest bed they had shared that night. He must have had a little bit too much mulled wine the night before, he assumed, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and made his way downstairs.

He found Martha, Mickey, Donna and Jack sat in the living room. The curtains hadn't yet been pulled, causing the lights from the tree to light up the room in a glow that only happened when it was Christmas.

"Morning," he said as he made his way over the sofa and sat down next to Donna. "Where's Rose?" He asked.

"She's gone back to the TARDIS, I think," Donna said. "Said she needed to grab one last thing that she's forgotten."

"Right," the Doctor said. He tried to think of what it could be, since he was sure that they had brought everything when they arrived yesterday. Knowing Rose, though, she had most likely forgotten her hairbrush and had run back inside the grab it. Either that or a clean bra, she was always forgetting that when she went into the bathroom in the morning to get ready – not that the Doctor minded, of course.

"When she gets back, shall we open presents?" Martha asked.

"Of course," Mickey said. "Which reminds me," he turned to the Doctor. "You gonna ask her today?"

For a moment, the Doctor wondered what it was he was talking about and then he remembered what he said about Rose's Christmas present this year. He smiled and looked in the direction of the present he had lain down last night before going to bed. "Yes," he replied.

"And she has no idea?" Jack asked.

"Not unless any of you have mentioned anything to her," the Doctor replied. "I'm pretty sure she's got no suspicions."

"It's about time you asked her," Martha told him. "How long has it been since she's been back?"

The Doctor smiled, it had been nearly four years since Rose had returned from the parallel universe back to him. In some ways, it felt like she had never been gone at all, but in others it felt as though it had only been yesterday.

"Well, I'm glad you're finally getting your act together properly. It was a right relief when you finally admitted to her how you felt," Donna said.

The Doctor was about to reply when the door opened and he heard Rose's voice calling from the hallway. She appeared a moment later, holding a box wrapped in Christmas paper in the hand.

"You alright?" The Doctor asked as she put the present down at the back of the tree and sat on the sofa next to the Doctor. He didn't know if anyone else could see it since no one else looked concerned, but she seemed a little off. She was paler than she was when he had seen her last and there was a hidden nervousness in her eyes.

"Hmm?" She asked, slightly distracted by something. She felt the Doctor's arm go around her and she lifted her head to look up at him.

"I asked if you were alright," the Doctor told her. "You seem a little pale."

"I'm fine," Rose smiled at him, though he wasn't entirely convinced. "It's a bit cold out there, though."

"What did you forget?" He asked.

"I just forgot one of the presents. I meant to put it in the bag yesterday, but I accidently left it on the bed before we left.

The Doctor nodded, still worried that something was the matter. Her argument hadn't been entirely convincing, but he wasn't going to bring it up in front of everyone.

"Right," Jack announced. "Present time!"

…

In no time at all, there were only a couple of presents left under the tree. Rose was adamant that the Doctor gave her hers first since she wanted to give him his last. It wasn't exactly what he had planned, but he went for it anyway. There was something in her eyes that convinced him and he didn't dare question it.

Picking up the small box by the tree, the Doctor swallowed and briefly thought about how he was going to do this. To say that he hadn't exactly planned fully for this moment would be the biggest understatement the universe had ever seen, but he had decided to go about this in the same way that he went about his whole life – making it up as he went along. Usually, things turned out alright for him, but there were some things that he wondered would work better if he had planned the more in advance. This was one of them.

However, telling himself that there was no use in thinking about that now. He did the only thing he could think of and handed the box to Rose. He had disguised his gift as much as possible. Putting the main present inside a rectangle box which wouldn't give her any cause for suspicion when she saw it. He had wanted it to be a surprise for as long as he could make it.

As she started unwrapping the paper, his hearts started beating unnaturally fast. He could feel everyone else's eyes on both him and Rose as she opened it and he tried his hardest to forget that they were there. He suddenly started asking himself what had made him pick today to do this when he had known for ages that they wouldn't be alone when this happened. Still, it was too late to back up now.

"Doctor…" Rose said in awe and the Doctor realised that he had let his mind drift away from the present. Rose had opened the out box now and had pulled out the smaller, velvet box that he had hidden inside.

"Open it," he urged her with a nervous smile on his face.

Rose did as he said and slowly opened the box. Inside was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen in her life. She gasped when she realised what it was and looked from the ring to the Doctor, tears in her eyes.

"I…" she started, but the Doctor interrupted her, taking her hands in his and looking directly at her.

"Rose, listen," he started. "I love you. I love you more than I think I've ever loved anyone in my life. When I lost you all that time ago, I never thought I would find anything close to what I had with you again. It hurt so much to think that you wouldn't be there with me, by my side, day-in, day-out.

"I know that our forever won't be a long one, but I want to spend as much time with you as a possibly can. I want to spend the rest of your forever with you, no matter what. I want my memories of you to be filled with love and passion and fun, not regret and remorse and what-ifs. So," he took the ring out of the box and continued to look directly at her. "Will you marry me?"

Rose looked at him for a few seconds, completely in shock. Slowly, it began to sink in what he had just asked her and she couldn't contain the smile forming on her face.

"Of course I will," she said smiling through the tears that still rolled down her cheeks. They were happy tears, there was no doubt about that.

"Oh Rose," the Doctor replied, relief and joy evident in his voice. He kissed her gently before bringing her into his arms and holding her tight. She held him back with equal force, clinging to him as if letting him go would somehow make this all a dream.

They had forgotten that they weren't alone until the sound of a very familiar wolf-whistle brought them back into the room and they remembered where they were and who they were with.

"Trust you to be the one to spoil the moment, Jack," the Doctor said, but there was a fondness in his voice and a smile on his face.

"Well someone had to remind you where you were," he replied. "Lord knows what would have happened had you been able to continue."

"We were hugging," the Doctor replied, quickly catching on to exactly what Jack was thinking.

Jack said nothing and merely winked at them knowingly.

"Congratulations," Martha said hugging both of them. "Did wonder for a while if he was going to choke up for a while."

"You knew?" Rose asked.

"We all did," Mickey told her. "The Doctor mentioned it, asking if we thought it was a good idea. We helped him as much as we could. Though there wasn't much to do since he had already picked the ring out long before."

Rose looked down at the ring on her hand. In their joy, she couldn't remember when the Doctor had slipped it on to her finger, but it was there now, as if it had always meant to be there.

"How long have you had it?" Rose asked, curious to know how long he had been planning this.

"Longer than you think," he replied. "I've had that ring since I was a child. It was my mother's."

"Doctor…"

"When I knew I wanted to ask for your hand in marriage, it was the only ring I could even think about giving you. My mother gave it to me to give to someone who I cared about more than anything. I told her that I didn't think I would ever find someone – it just wasn't the way we did things back home – but my mother always knew that I would. She knew that I was different and that I felt differently towards relationships than other Time Lords. She always was a clever one, my mother."

Not knowing what to say back to that, Rose simply just threw her arms around him and held him close. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear. The Doctor smiled and wrapped his arms around her, burying his head in her neck. There was so much he wanted to tell her about his home; so much that he hadn't wanted to bring up in a very long time. But now was neither the time nor the place to do so. He promised himself, though, once they were back in the TARDIS, he would start to open up to her in a way he had never done with her or anyone else before. If she was going to be his wife, then she deserved to know what she was getting herself into.

"Right," Donna said, interrupting the moment. "If I'm not mistaken, we're not done yet as there is still one present sitting under that tree."

Letting go of the Doctor, Rose looked towards the tree. "Ah, we don't have to do that one yet." She said.

"Why not?" The Doctor asked. "I want to open it."

Rose sighed. "I just don't know if now is the time. I probably shouldn't have put it down there. After all, you've technically had your present from me this year," she looked at the Doctor. Technically, it was true, a few days prior the Doctor had accidently discovered his present under their bed and Rose had been forced to let him have it early. It had been a selection of photographs from their travels and the bits in between. Many of them being from travels before their separation, with a couple before even his regeneration. It had been a time line of sorts of their adventures and their time together. He had loved it so much that it had gone up on the wall behind their bed almost instantly.

"Hey, come on, you can't put something down and then not let him open it," Mickey told her. "It can't be that bad of a present," he laughed.

"Alright, but I'm still unsure," Rose said. She went over to the tree and pulled out the wrapped-up box from underneath it. Nervously, she handed it to the Doctor.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, just a bit nervous," she replied. Truth be told, she also felt a bit sick, but there was no need to worry him too much.

She sat down next to him and watched as he opened the gift. She swallowed once the paper had all been torn away and all that was left was a plain box.

Looking at her curiously and aware that there were always four other pairs of eyes wondering, too, what was inside, the Doctor opened the lid.

He gasped when he saw what was inside.

"I didn't know the best way to tell you," Rose started. "I've been trying to tell you now for a couple of days."

Pulling out what was inside, the Doctor didn't know what to say. In his hands, he held a tiny baby-grow. It was TARDIS-blue and covered in swirls of sliver and golden stars. As well as that, still in the box, was a tiny pair of converse that matched the Doctor's favourite pair. Putting down the baby-grow, he pulled them out and looked across at Rose. No words forming to express exactly what this meant to him.

"Oh my God, Rose…" Donna started, but wasn't sure how to continue. They all watched the two of them carefully, particularly trying to judge the Doctor's reaction, who was still stunned into silence.

"Rose…" the Doctor started, quietly, still trying to form words through the shock still clouding his thoughts. "We're…"

Rose nodded, trying to hold back a smile. She wanted to know what the Doctor thought of all this before giving away her own emotions.

"We're going to have a baby?" He finally finished, the realisation of what he had said not lost on him as he looked down at the things he had on his lap.

"Yeah, we are," Rose replied, still worried about how the Doctor was taking all of this.

Another few seconds passed, but they felt like hours. Eventually, the knowledge of what was happening seemed to finally settle within the Doctor's mind and looked up at Rose with the biggest smile she had possibly ever seen from him.

"You're pregnant," it wasn't a question, but Rose nodded anyway.

Putting down the box, he brought Rose into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

"You're okay with it then?" Rose asked.

The Doctor pulled back, but kept her at arm's length. "Happy? Happy doesn't even cover it, Rose," he told her. "I'm ecstatic."

"Me too," Rose smiled and kissed him quickly before pulling away.

"Thank you," the Doctor told her sincerely.

"What for?"

"For giving me everything I never thought I could have again."

"Blimey," Jack said, smiling fondly at his friends. "IS that everything or are there any more surprises to come?" He asked.

Rose just laughed. "No, I think that's everything."

"How long have you known?" Martha asked.

"Only a couple of days," Rose replied. "Like I said, I didn't know how to bring it up," she turned to the Doctor. "I ummed and ahhed right up until this morning about whether or to tell you today. That's why I went back to the TARDIS, I had purposely left it there in case I decided against it. But it was also an excuse to get myself out of the house so I wasn't overcome with morning sickness here, worrying everyone since no-one knew."

"That's why you looked pale when you returned," the Doctor worked out. "Oh Rose," he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her hair. He hated it when she was sick, for whatever reason, pregnant with his child or not.

"I'm alright, it's not that bad. Some women have it far worse," she said. "I was still worried about telling you today, especially after you asked me to marry you. I was worried it might spoil everything and that you might not be as happy about this as I was."

"Well, you needn't have worried about anything," the Doctor told her.

"I know that now," Rose laughed. "I didn't know that then. I was scared about what you might say. Truth be told, I was terrified when I found out."

"There's no need to be scared now, Rose, I'm going to be here for you and our child for the rest of your lives."

"Good, because you're not getting rid of us that easily," she teased, resting her head on her shoulder.

"Wouldn't even dream of it," the Doctor replied.

They each fell into a happy silence for a few moments before Mickey piped up.

"Right then, who's for tea?"

After a chorus of 'yes's, the Doctor and Rose found themselves to be alone in the living room, surrounding by wrapping paper, cards and presents.

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" the Doctor asked, pulling Rose into his side.

"Hmm…maybe once or twice," Rose joked. "But I certainly wouldn't be opposed to you telling me again."

"Good, because I don't think I ever want to stop saying it."

"I love you, too, Doctor," Rose said, snuggling into her new fiancé's side and sighing contently.

"I can't wait to get married, you know," he told her. "And for this little one to arrive." He placed his hand on Rose's flat stomach and found he couldn't wait for it to swell with the life inside.

"What have you done to me, Rose?" He smiled. "There was a time when I wouldn't dream of living a life like this. A life that's so domestic and so normal. With a little adventure on the side, of course."

"I suppose you could say I have 'domesticated' you?" She laughed.

"You certainly have, that's for sure," the Doctor laughed back. "And do you know what?"

"What?" She looked up at him then and saw everything he wanted to say in his eyes. They were the most honest and the most open she had ever seen them.

"I wouldn't change it for the universe."


End file.
